Comedian Kathy Griffin has quit U.S. style show Fashion Police just two weeks after her co-host Kelly Osbourne announced her departure.
Reality TV star Osbourne left the program last month (Feb15), days after threatening to quit over the fall-out following ill-advised remarks her colleague Giuliana Rancic made about teen star Zendaya Coleman's red carpet look at the Oscars.
Griffin, who joined the series as a replacement for the late Joan Rivers in January (15), revealed on Thursday (12Mar15) that she too has decided to quit the show after just seven episodes. The funnywoman took to Twitter.com to share the news with her followers, writing, "I thought that I could bring my brand of humor to Fashion Police so that beautiful people in beautiful dresses could be teased when appropriate. My brand of humor, while unrepentant and unafraid, is all about CONTEXT. There is plenty to make fun of in pop culture without bringing people's bodies into it."
She continued, "I do not want to use my comedy to contribute to a culture of unattainable perfectionism and intolerance towards difference. I want to help women, gay kids, people of color and anyone who feels underrepresented to have a voice and a LAUGH! "After 7 episodes of Fashion Police, I discovered that my style does not fit with the creative direction of the show &amp; now it's time to move on. I wish (network) E! and the E! team only the best and I hope to continue to make you all laugh performing live or on televison where I can be smart, irreverent, unrepentant and unafraid in an observational way that is candid, honest and justified."
With Griffin gone, only Rancic and celebrity stylist Brad Goreski are left on the panel, although Kim Kardashian's sister Khloe has emerged as a frontrunner to join the show as a regular contributor when it returns at the end of this month (Mar15).

It's easy to get swept up with major Hollywood stars this time of year, gazing at the red carpet and thinking of these celebs as superhuman megastars, but even the biggest names around got their starts in less glamorous ways. Before their Oscars and Emmys, these stars had Pop Tarts and Lisa Frank.
1. Ben Affleck
Dig those smooth moves and that hip phone! The two-time Oscar winner starred in this Burger King commercial before becoming the megastar we know today from films like Good Will Hunting and Gone Girl. His next role may be playing Batman, but now we'll always think of him as this bad boy who breaks the rules.
2. Brad Pitt
It may be crazy to see a superstar like Brad Pitt shelling for potato chips, but if you think about it, not much has really changed for the Oscar-winning Fight Club star since this Pringles commercial: he still looks good enough to make our mouths water.
3. Jennifer Lawrence
Since starring in this commercial for MTV's Super Sweet 16, Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence has taught those boys how to properly carry her around on her throne, where this Oscar-winning actress belongs.
4. Stanley Tucci
We've always loved The Devil Wears Prada's Stanley Tucci, but seeing him young and hunky in this Levi's commercial made us love him even more.
5. Steve Carell
Steve Carell may have received his first Oscar nomination for his dramatic role in Foxcatcher, but this commercial shows that he's at his best when he's being funny and lovable.
6. Leonardo DiCaprio
We're like 97% sure we'd take our pants off immediately if Leo came up to us now and told us to "keep it poppin" or to "save some for Daddy." The 5-time Academy Award nominee is underrated even when it comes to his commercials.
7. Haley Joel Osment
We're just gonna throw this out there: The Sixth Sense could have been a much better movie if they'd stuck to the original line, "I see snack dragons." Just saying. Also, not even a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle would eat a pizza that looks that gross, Kraft.
8. Naomi Watts
Young Naomi Watts, the two-time Academy Award nominee you know from films like Birdman and Mulholland Drive, was once a teenager with a thick Australian accent. Like most of us, the near-perfect actress worried about her skin, her figure, and "that one" problem we don't talk about.
9. Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone
"You sound like a commercial." "You buyin' it?" This is the greatest moment of either of their careers. Just kidding, Sharon Stone has gone on to many other performances that are just as good, if not better.
10. Mila Kunis
So, we guess we can thank Mila Kunis for helping make Lisa Frank such a thing in the 90s. It's hard to believe that the star was only two years away from her breakout role on That '70s Show.
11. Elijah Wood:
We've always had a lot of love for Elijah Wood's facial expressions. From Lord of the Rings to Wilfred, his face is sometimes the only thing that makes his performances entertaining. This commercial might just be his shining moment.
12. Kristen Stewart
We love how sassy Kristen Stewart is in this Porsche commercial -- that head nod and "duh" look on her face, as if she would lie about missing her bus, Dad. But secretly, she's all *Live Fast, Die Hard, Bad Girls, Do It Well* #YOLO. Performance of her career, honestly.
13. Meg Ryan
We would personally rather watch a never-ending loop of Meg Ryan's face appearing over the Burger King logo than watch Sleepless in Seattle.
14. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
How many times have we fantasized about the chance to be at Joseph Gordon Levitt's house with him making us breakfast in the morning? Countless. But we never imagined it could be as adorable and delicious as this 1991 Pop Tarts commercial makes it seem.
15. Tobey Maguire
Yo, Spider-Man is having an uncomfortable amount of fun in the bathroom.
16. Corey Feldman
This adorable McDonalds commercial from 1975 may have been heartwarming back then, but 40 years later, it just reminds us how much The Goonies star hasn't aged since he was 4.
17. Demi Moore
We're not sure if the Ghost star was trying to sell Diet Coke by convincing us we might fall in love, or if she was trying to warn us of the dangers and health problems that could arise from drinking it, but we still like it.
18. Keanu Reeves:
Eating cereal has seriously never looked more fun than it does in this commercial. We would love to eat Kelloggs Corn Flakes with Keanu, Matrix style.
19. Stephen Colbert
This ad seems like a news report, and we can totally see a lot of similarities between this FirsTier Bank commercial and The Colbert Report.
20. Matt LeBlanc
Okay, the best things might come to those who wait, but does the Friends star now have to run back up to the roof, or is he just gonna waste that whole bottle of ketchup just to look cool eating one hot dog? Joey. Doesn't. Waste. Food.
21. Courteney Cox
Fun fact: the Friends star was the first person to ever say "period" (referring to menstruation, not punctuation) on TV. She then broke down more boundaries by starring in terribly-named-but-not-actually-terrible TV shows, like Cougar Town.
22. Elisabeth Moss
Are we the only ones watching this commercial as if we're watching Pegy pitch an ad campaign on Mad Men? We can't be.
23. Sarah Michelle Gellar
This 4-year-old Sarah Michelle Gellar just slayed Burger King's competition faster than you could say "Buffy." Un-be-liev-able!
24. Bryan Cranston
Fans were amazed with how Bryan Cranston transformed from the lovable Hal on Malcolm in the Middle into the meth kingpin Heisenberg on Breaking Bad, but the truly incredible transformation of his career happened way earlier. The way he instantly goes from being a skunk to a human is absolutely astonishing.
25. Aaron Paul
This commercial seems like it could actually just be Breaking Bad's Jesse Pinkman waiting to eat his breakfast before heading off to Chemistry with Mr. White, doesn't it? Aaron Paul's gotta have his Pops, bitch!
26. Megan Mullally and John Goodman
We love Karen Walker enough to be able to recognize that incredible voice anywhere, even if it's some place strange, like a McDonalds commercial. While Karen would certainly never actually sell Egg McMuffins, we're pretty sure that Roseanne star John Goodman totally would.
27. Seth Green
We don't mean to diminish the abilities of our favorite werewolf from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or our favorite dimwitted cartoon son from Family Guy, but this is definitely Seth Green's brightest moment. That hair, the accent. He totally nails the 90s goon role with lines like, "Consequently, we can hit on 'em," and "Definitely - NOT!"
28. Tony Hale
Tony Hale won our hearts playing Buster on Arrested Development (and an Emmy playing Gary on Veep), and this commercial proves that he's made a career out of his hilarious concern regarding women's toiletries. We wonder if Gary's Leviathan on Veep has Herbal Essences.
29. Charlie Day
This quirky commercial for Cascade dishwasher detergent looks like Charlie Day just stepped out of an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Graduating and heading straight into retirement also seems like a total Charlie Kelly scheme, doesn't it?
30. Jane Lynch
Okay, the only thing we love more than Frosted Flakes and Tony the Tiger is this commercial with Glee star Jane Lynch camping out everyday trying to sneak a peak at the elusive mascot himself.

Celebrity stylist/U.S. TV personality Brad Goreski and his longtime boyfriend, TV writer Gary Janetti, got engaged in August (14). The news of their betrothal comes a week after Goreski was announced as the new co-host of style show Fashion Police. He joins Kelly Osbourne, Giuliana Rancic, and comedienne Kathy Griffin, who will replace the late Joan Rivers on the panel when the show returns next year (15).

She’s starring in the suspenseful final season of White Collar, has a new show on the Cooking Channel in the works, is a mom to four-year-old daughter Harper, and is a holiday gifting guru. Tiffani Thiessen is teaming up with the U.S. Postal Service to share tips on the best ways to ship gifts to friends and family this holiday season.
USPS
Thiessen tells Hollywood.com all about how she plans to spend her holidays cozy at home with her family making homemade holiday gifts for loved ones. “It’s something we can do together and spend a lot of family time in the kitchen.” She told us how easy it is to ship these homemade treats using USPS priority mail flat rate boxes. The boxes even come with holiday themes on them, or, Thiessen tells us her daughter likes to decorate the boxes herself - so cute!
Thiessen's favorite holiday recipe is cookies because they're foolproof to make with her daughter. “The cookies are the easiest and the best.” We agree. She also likes to send different kinds of breads, chocolate bark and muffins. Yum! “It just depends,” she told us. “You can do anything.” You can see Thiessen's cookie recipe at the end of this article.
USPS/Greg Breeding
Other gifts she likes to send to friends and family over the holidays are personalized stationary and - believe it or not - stamps. She told us she just got a bunch of really cute Batman stamps from USPS as stocking stuffers for her nephew. That actually does sound really cute! To find out more exciting gifting options when it comes to shipping gifts this holiday season, head over to usps.com/holiday. Gift wisely!
Thiessen stars in White Collar, which is currently in its sixth and final season. She Tells Hollywood.com exlusively about the final season:
"I can tell you that it has a lot of questions answered. It leaves, I think, the fans in a good way. I think all of us were pretty happy about the way the show was ending, even though we were all sad that it was ending. But I think the fans are going to be very happy how we ended it."
You can watch the final season of White Collar Thursdays at 9/8C on USA Network.
Thiessen is also "cooking up something with the Cooking Channel.” She’s doing a show called Dinner at Tiffani’s. The premise of the show is she'll be hosting an intimate dinner party with her celebrity friends. “I can’t tell you too much because it’s kind of a secret, but kind of a cool secret. But I can tell you, you’re going to see a lot of recognizable people coming by my house for sure for a good meal.” Sounds fun!
When asked whether the former Kelly Kapowski would ever do a Saved By The Bell reunion, Thiessen says,
"I don't know if you'll see anything from us anytime soon."
The SBTB cast (Mario Lopez, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley and Lark Voorhies, along with Thiessen) did a People Magazine spread a few years ago for the show’s 20th year reunion, and Thiessen said the magazine spread “kind of fulfilled us.” She goes on to say, “People ask us all the time, it’s very funny. I guess the show kind of held a very special place in a lot of people’s hearts, which is understandable. A lot of us still talk so we kind of have our own reunion all the time.”
Thiessen has appeared multiple times on E's Fashion Police in the past alongside the late, great Joan Rivers. About the recent announcement that Kathy Griffin and Brad Goreski will be joining the show, Thiessen tells Hollywood.com exclusively: “I think it’s great. I think those are some really hard shoes to fill, and I don’t think anybody can do it exactly, but I don’t think that’s what their job is for. I think their job is to hopefully just do their own thing on the show and I’m sure it’s going to be just as great.” Well said, Tiff!
Tiffani’s Shippable Holiday Treats
INGREDIENTS
3.4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 large egg
1/3 cup cranberries, pepitas &amp; shredded coconut (or any dried fruit or nut of your choice)
Coconut oil
PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Add flour mixture; beat just until combined. Stir in cranberries, pepitas and shredded coconut last.
3. Drop cookie dough rolled into balls about the width of a quarter 2 inches apart on 2 baking sheets coated with oil. Bake at 350° for 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on pan for one minute. Remove cookies from pan and transfer to a wire rack for cooling.
4. Pack cookies in an airtight container and place in a holiday-themed Priority Mail box with bubble wrap or newspaper. Add a special note with greeting. and send to friends and family for a homemade holiday treat!

Comedienne Kathy Griffin will replace Joan Rivers on TV style show Fashion Police. The star will join Kelly Osbourne, Giuliana Rancic and celebrity stylist/ TV personality Brad Goreski when the show returns next year (15). The weekly programme shut down following Rivers' death in September (14).

Celebrities including Whoopi Goldberg, Johnny Depp and Hugh Jackman have paid tribute to veteran comedienne Joan Rivers following her death on Thursday (04Sep14). The legendary funnywoman, 81, died at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital after she was removed from life support following a cardiac and respiratory arrest on 28 August (14).
Her daughter Melissa announced that her mum passed away just after 1pm local time, and celebrities have been paying tribute to Rivers ever since.
Fellow comedienne and longtime pal Whoopi Goldberg took to Twitter.com to share her condolences, and wrote, "My friend Joan Rivers has passed away once again to quote Billy Crystal... There are no words. Bon Voyage Joan."
News of Rivers' death comes weeks after Goldberg also paid tribute to another close friend, Robin Williams, who died last month (Aug14).
Australian actor Jackman lauded Rivers' comedic presence and wrote, "We lost one of the true originals today. Joan Rivers. A force. You will be missed," while Depp called her "An Amazing Individual", and Mel Brooks wrote, "Joan Rivers never played it safe. She was the bravest of them all. Still at the top at the end. She will be sorely missed."
Other tributes from Zoe Saldana and British comedian Ricky Gervais hit Twitter, and rocker Ozzy Osbourne thanked the late comic for being kind to his daughter Kelly - Rivers' co-host on TV show Fashion Police. He wrote, "Not only was Joan a comic genius, she was an amazing woman. Thank you for always having Kelly’s back. You will always be a legend. RIP."
Celebrities also brought levity to the tragedy of her death, recalling catty remarks Rivers had made about them on awards show red carpets. Actress Anna Kendrick said, "Being publicly told that my dress is hideous will never feel quite as awesome. You will be truly missed", singer Demi Lovato added, "RIP Joan Rivers... You made fun of my boobies just last week and it was an HONOR," and pop star Katy Perry joked, "What's the point of wearing all these dumb costumes if Joan's not here to rip them apart? RIP Joan Rivers. You are a one of a one."
Former Charmed star Rose McGowan recalled that "Joan once said I looked like a whore," and Evan Rachel Wood shared a similar sentiment, and remembered, "She once said I looked like I needed a trip to the VD (venereal disease) clinic..." before adding, "The day I was ridiculed by Joan Rivers for the way I looked was the day I felt like i made it in Hollywood."
Girls star and creator Lena Dunham even poked fun at Rivers' self-depricating extensive plastic surgery, and quipped, "I told (comedian Marc) Maron I'd have a zinger when Joan died. But I didn't think she ever would. She felt eternal, and anyway, zingers are her territory. That being said, Joan is gone but a piece of her lives on: her nose, because it's made of polyurethane."
A plethora of comedians also shared their praise for Rivers, including Kathy Griffin, Roseanne Barr, Ellen DeGeneres, Sarah Silverman, Chris Rock, Cedric the Entertainer, Wanda Sykes, Arsenio Hall, Tim Allen and Kevin Hart, as well as celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, Boy George, Samuel L. Jackson, Nancy Sinatra, La Toya Jackson, Martha Stewart, Naomi Campbell, Brad Paisley, Alec Baldwin, Josh Groban, Maria Shriver, Simon Pegg, William Shatner, Ariana Grande, Vanessa Williams, Julianne Moore and John Stamos.

Country star Brad Paisley was left speechless during a show in Bangor, Maine on Sunday (15Jun14) when the wives of two soldiers he met in Afghanistan on Memorial Day weekend (25May14) showed up with cardboard cut-outs of their husbands. The patriotic Celebrity singer jetted off to perform for U.S. troops with President Barack Obama last month, but had no idea he'd be coming face to face with two heroes over the weekend.
The wives of Sgt. Kelly and Sgt. Gross held the heads and torsos of their husbands high above their heads as they stood in the audience at Paisley's show.
Posting photos of himself collecting the cardboard likenesses and posing with them on his Twitter.com page on Monday (16Jun14), the country singer wrote, "Crazy to play for the soldiers 2 weeks ago in Afg. (Afghanistan) & then their significant others here at home. Sgt.Kelly &Sgt.Gross... Come home safe Flat Daddies!"

United Artists via Everett Collection
It all starts with a mullet and an attitude. By the time that Patrick Swayze appeared as the legendary bouncer (or cooler) Dalton in 1989's Road House, he was two years removed from his star making turn in Dirty Dancing. Audiences already knew that he could dance, but nobody knew that he could rip a guy's throat out with his bare hands.
In the 25 years since its release, Road House has become a cult classic, both for its over-the-top fight scenes and Swayze's mock-philosophical dialogue and awesome hair. With its frequent appearances on cable television, it's never out of sight for very long, but we've compiled some fun facts to help you enjoy the greatest bad movie ever the next time you find yourself drawn in by the majesty of Swayze. Just remember the immortal words of Dalton: "I want you to be nice, until it's time not to be nice."
1. Although the film is set in the town of Jasper, Missouri, the exterior of the film's infamous bar The Double Deuce was built strictly for the filming on location in California and then was torn down. Some of the interiors were shot, however, in a real bar in Anaheim that has since closed.
2. Screenwriter David Lee Henry has said that Dalton was named after the town of Dalton, Georgia. He stopped at a bar there during a road trip and it ended up serving in part as the inspiration for his script.
3. Dalton is shown reading Jim Harrison's Legends of the Fall, which is the basis for the 1994 Brad Pitt-Anthony Hopkins movie of the same name.
4. Movie trailers frequently feature parts that are subsequently cut before a film is released, but Road House has the unofficial record for the most occurrences of deleted scenes. The original trailer had at least five different clips that don't appear in the finished version.
5. The Jeff Healey Band, which serves as the house band of The Double Deuce, had their biggest hit "Angel Eyes" on the charts while Road House was still in theaters, but the song isn't from the movie. Healey, the blind Canadian guitarist, and his group recorded their album See the Light concurrently with the movie soundtrack.
6. In a sad coincidence, both Swayze and Ben Gazzara, who played Dalton's nemesis Brad Wesley, both died of pancreatic cancer… Swayze in 2009 and Gazzara in 2012.
7. As awesome as Swayze's mullet was, the actor himself didn't like it. In the book One Last Dance, Swayze's biographer Wendy Leigh quoted the actor as calling the Road House hair style the "bane of my existence."
8. Red West, who played the owner of the auto parts store (also named Red), was a high school friend of Elvis Presley. West was a charter member of Presley's "Memphis Mafia" and functioned as one of the singer's bodyguards into the 1970s.
9. Even though Dalton famously says that "Pain don't hurt," the axiom didn't apply to Swayze. Among the various ways he was banged up during shooting was when Marshall Teague, who played Jimmy (the bad guy who gets his throat ripped out), hit Swayze with what he thought was a prop log... only to find out that it was actual hard wood.
10. One of the fired bartenders from The Double Deuce was played by John Doe, better known to music fans as the founder of the punk band X.
11. Kevin Tighe, who played Dalton's boss, bar owner Frank Tilghman, was better known for his work on television. He was one of the stars of the '70s hit Emergency! and later played Locke's father on Lost.
12. Even though Swayze is shown practicing t'ai chi, Dalton never actually uses that particular style of martial arts in the movie's fight scenes. Instead he uses moves from various sources, including the Korean discipline of hapkido.
13. Annette Bening was originally cast as "Doc," the ER doctor played by Kelly Lynch.
14. Lynch said in an interview with The AV Club that Bill Murray and his brothers like to call her husband, screenwriter Mitch Glazer (Scrooged), every time that they see Road House on TV to remind him about her steamy sex scenes with Swayze.
15. Lynch reportedly spent a month hanging around a real emergency room to prepare for her role. She learned the proper way to sew a medical stitch… but then the script was changed so that she never got to showcase her new skill.
16. Dalton had a thing for Buicks. Before he leaves for Missouri the "beater" car that he drives to protect his prized Mercedes is a 1964 Buick Riviera. Once he gets to Jasper, he buys the 1965 edition of the same car model.
17. Just as he had with Dirty Dancing, Swayze sings on the soundtrack and his song "Cliff's Edge" is heard on a radio in the film.
18. The Otis Redding song "These Arms of Mine" is used during one of the love scenes between Swayze and Lynch. In Dirty Dancing, the same song is used during the initial love scene between Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
19. Kitschy stage director Timothy Haskell did an off-Broadway retelling of Road House in 2003 titled Road House: The Stage Version of the Cinema Classic That Starred Patrick Swayze Except This One Stars Taimak from the '80s Cult Classic 'The Last Dragon' Wearing a Blonde Mullet Wig.Try saying that three times fast.
20. Road House has been a running gag on both Mystery Science Theater 3000, where it was Crow's favorite movie, and in Family Guy, where Peter punctuates every fight by name-checking the film. Not to be outdone, teammates of Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback Andy Dalton call him "Road House" thanks to his surname.
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DreamWorks
For the bulk of every Rocky and Bullwinkle episode, moose and squirrel would engage in high concept escapades that satirized geopolitics, contemporary cinema, and the very fabrics of the human condition. With all of that to work with, there's no excuse for why the pair and their Soviet nemeses haven't gotten a decent movie adaptation. But the ingenious Mr. Peabody and his faithful boy Sherman are another story, intercut between Rocky and Bullwinkle segments to teach kids brief history lessons and toss in a nearly lethal dose of puns. Their stories and relationship were much simpler, which means that bringing their shtick to the big screen would entail a lot more invention — always risky when you're dealing with precious material.
For the most part, Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman handles the regeneration of its heroes aptly, allowing for emotionally substance in their unique father-son relationship and all the difficulties inherent therein. The story is no subtle metaphor for the difficulties surrounding gay adoption, with society decreeing that a dog, no matter how hyper-intelligent, cannot be a suitable father. The central plot has Peabody hosting a party for a disapproving child services agent and the parents of a young girl with whom 7-year-old Sherman had a schoolyard spat, all in order to prove himself a suitable dad. Of course, the WABAC comes into play when the tots take it for a spin, forcing Peabody to rush to their rescue.
Getting down to personals, we also see the left brain-heavy Peabody struggle with being father Sherman deserves. The bulk of the emotional marks are hit as we learn just how much Peabody cares for Sherman, and just how hard it has been to accept that his only family is growing up and changing.
DreamWorks
But more successful than the new is the film's handling of the old — the material that Peabody and Sherman purists will adore. They travel back in time via the WABAC Machine to Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance, and the Trojan War, and 18th Century France, explaining the cultural backdrop and historical significance of the settings and characters they happen upon, all with that irreverent (but no longer racist) flare that the old cartoons enjoyed. And oh... the puns.
Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman is a f**king treasure trove of some of the most amazingly bad puns in recent cinema. This effort alone will leave you in awe.
The film does unravel in its final act, bringing the science-fiction of time travel a little too close to the forefront and dropping the ball on a good deal of its emotional groundwork. What seemed to be substantial building blocks do not pay off in the way we might, as scholars of animated family cinema, have anticipated, leaving the movie with an unfinished feeling.
But all in all, it's a bright, compassionate, reasonably educational, and occasionally funny if not altogether worthy tribute to an old favorite. And since we don't have our own WABAC machine to return to a time of regularly scheduled Peabody and Sherman cartoons, this will do okay for now.
If nothing else, it's worth your time for the puns.
3/5
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Space drama Gravity scooped a handful of top honours at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards on Sunday (16Feb14), including a Best Director prize for Alfonso Cuaron. The sci-fi hit, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded in outer space, also picked up awards for Best British Film, Best Cinematography, Best Music, and Best Visual Effects.
It was a disappointing night for Oscars favourite 12 Years A Slave - although the drama took home Best Film and Best Actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor, it lost out in a string of other top categories, including Best Supporting Actor (Michael Fassbender) and Best Adapted Screenplay, which was instead awarded to Philomena writers Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope.
There was also no trophy for Ejiofor's co-star, newcomer Lupita Nyong'o, who missed out on a Best Supporting Actress honour to Jennifer Lawrence; she was also denied the Rising Star Award, which went to We're The Millers actor Will Poulter.
Cate Blanchett was named Best Actress for her role in Woody Allen comedy Blue Jasmine, and Captain Phillips star Barkhad Abdi took home the Best Supporting Actor prize, while Dame Helen Mirren was honoured with a BAFTA Fellowship for Lifetime Achievement.
Collecting his Best Director award, Mexican moviemaker Cuaron said, "You can't tell from my accent but I consider myself a part of the British film industry. I've lived in London for the last 30 years and I've done almost half of my films in the U.K. I guess I make a good case for curbing immigration!"
The award ceremony's emotional highlight came as Blanchett dedicated her Best Actress trophy to her late friend Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died earlier this month (Feb14).
She said, "Phil, your monumental talent, your generosity, and your unflinching quest for the truth, both in art and life, will be missed, not only by me but by so many... Phil, buddy - this is for you, you b**tard! I hope you're proud."
The ceremony at the Royal Opera House was presented by Stephen Fry and featured guests including Leonardo DiCaprio, who presented the supporting actress award, Brad Pitt, Uma Thurman, Prince William, Amy Adams, Emma Thompson, and Stanley Tucci.
The list of 2014 BAFTA film award winners is:
- Best Film: 12 Years A Slave
- Best British Film: Gravity
- Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
- Leading Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave)
- Leading Actress: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
- Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
- Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
- Best Original Screenplay: Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell (American Hustle)
- Best Music: Steven Price (Gravity)
- Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity)
- Best Editing: Dan Hanley & Mike Hill (Rush)
- Best Visual Effects: Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould & Nikki Penny (Gravity)
- Best Sound: Glenn Freemantle, Skip Lievsay, Christopher Benstead, Niv Adiri & Chris Munro (Gravity)
- Best Production Design: Catherine Martin & Beverley Dunn (The Great Gatsby)
- Best Costume Design: Catherine Martin (The Great Gatsby)
- Best Makeup & Hair: Evelyne Noraz & Lori McCoy-Bell (American Hustle)
- Rising Star: Will Poulter
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope (Philomena)
- Outstanding Debut: Kieran Evans (Kelly and Victor)
- Best Foreign Film: The Act of Killing
- Best Film Not in the English language: The Great Beauty
- Best Short Animation: Sleeping With the Fishes
- Best Short Film: Room 8
- Best Animated Film: Frozen
- Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema: Peter Greenaway
- BAFTA Fellowship for Lifetime Achievement: Dame Helen Mirren